1. Field of The Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector, particularly to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector having shielding device.
2. The Prior Art
There is a trend in the computer field to use USB connectors in place of most of the I/O connectors, such as D-Sub connectors and Mini-Dins. An I/O connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,822 is shown in FIG. 1. This I/O connector has the problems that there is a poor electrical contact effect between the cable conductors and the contacts of the connector. In addition, the cable is secured by plastic structure, which provides a poor securing to the cable. Moreover, no metal shielding device is provided for prevention of electromagnetic interference and for grounding.
A number of electrical connectors having a metal shielding device were proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems, such as the two disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,073,130 shown in FIG. 2 and 5,267,822 shown in FIG. 3. These connectors, however, still have the shortcomings that the structures involved are very complex, which not only raises level of difficulty in manufacturing and assembling, but also causes inconvenience in mechanical and electrical connections between the cable conductors and the contacts of the connector. Furthermore, the means for securing the cable is poor.
In addition, a number of electrical connectors having similar structure to those mentioned above were proposed in, for example, Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 81300211 and 81217896 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,013,262 and 5,017,156, while the above-mentioned problems and shortcomings still remain unsolved.
Hence, there is a need for a shielded electrical connector that can overcome the above-mentioned problems and shortcomings.